Coburn scrutiny in Ensign scandal

Sen. Tom Coburn faces troubling new questions about his role in the extramarital affair of his former colleague, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), including allegations that the Oklahoma Republican may have not been completely candid when questioned by Senate investigators about the still unfolding scandal.

For Coburn, the Ensign case has been a confusing — and apparently unending — parade of contradictions involving personal friendship, loyalty, religion, and political self-preservation. Coburn has found himself making headlines he clearly never wanted, and now he is a recurring character in the shocking Senate Ethics Committee report that suggests Ensign and his parents may have broken federal laws on several fronts in their dealings with Cindy and Doug Hampton, Ensign’s former mistress and her husband.

Story Continued Below

On Thursday, Coburn wanted nothing to do with the Ensign matter, refusing to comment on the 75-page ethics report that was the result of a two-year investigation.

“I don’t have any comments on John Ensign,” Coburn told POLITICO. “I’ve talked about him about as much as I’m going to.”

But ethics watchdog groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — which filed the initial complaint with the Ethics Committee against Ensign — said Coburn still has some explaining to do.

CREW has filed a complaint with the Ethics Committee against Coburn in a bid to find out whether Coburn violated Senate rules when he became involved in negotiations between Ensign and the Hamptons over a potential multi-million-dollar payment from the senator once the affair with Cindy Hampton was over.

Coburn has downplayed his role in those discussions, but several witnesses told the Ethics Committee under oath that Coburn was heavily engaged in those ultimately fruitless talks.

“Contrary to Sen. Coburn’s previous public statements – and even his statements to the ethics committee during the investigation – the senator was centrally involved in the negotiations regarding restitution to the Hamptons,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, in a statement.

“Although CREW filed a complaint against Sen. Coburn regarding his role, the committee did not comment on the clear inconsistencies between Sen. Coburn’s version of events and those of other witnesses. CREW hopes the ethics committee will release its report as to Sen. Coburn’s conduct as it did with the report on Sen. Ensign. This is all the more necessary given that Sen. Coburn is still in office,” Sloan added.

When the Ensign scandal first broke in mid-June 2009, Coburn’s role was not disclosed for several weeks until Doug Hampton gave an interview with Jon Ralston, a top Las Vegas political reporter. “Had Sen. Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago,” a Coburn spokesman said at the time.

As Ensign’s roomate at a Christian townhouse on Capitol Hill, Coburn was contacted by Doug Hampton in Feb. 2008 — just two months after Ensign’s affair with Cindy Hampton began — and asked to help bring it to an end.

Coburn was unsuccessful in at least two attempts to do so, including one episode where Hampton angrily confronted Ensign about the affair in front of Coburn and other lawmakers at the Washington townhouse, where several other lawmakers stayed when in the capital.

Another confrontation with Ensign over the affair took place a month later. Coburn was again involved in that episode.

Coburn even reportedly spoke to Michael Ensign, the senator’s father, as part of this intervention effort. Coburn, however, denies that any conversation with Michael Ensign ever took place.

Yet Tim Coe, Ensign’s “spiritual adviser” and a member of the Christian group that owned the Capitol Hill townhouse where both Ensign and Coburn lived, claims it did. Michael Ensign also told Senate investigators that it may have occurred but he couldn’t recall.

Coburn then acted as a go-between for the Hamptons, their attorney, and Ensign when the parties tried to hash out a multi-million-dollar payoff for the Hamptons.